Really? I always wonder what the story is with the gun torture tests that pull them out of mud or peanut butter or some other crazy substance, shake it off, work the action a couple times, and then empty a mag.? The poster here might've toasted his barrel by something as simple as overzealous lubrication. Yet a mud puddle poses no threat? When I bought my Mosin, I cleaned the cosmoline pretty well, but in no way did I think I could possibly pop the barrel by not perfectly removing all of it?

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It is all in perspective. I just had a revolver where I stuck 3 bullets into the barrel with no damage and had to drill them out, and then I have seen shotguns explode due to mud in the barrel. Then, I have read where barrels have been damaged due to over oiling and then trying to fire them. It would be nice to know what caused the barrel to bulge.

Yep too many variables. Hes shooting .45 ACP so pressure isnt likely a cause. Due to the low pressure and low velocity of the .45 ACP that all but rules out partial obstruction like too much oil. In my mind the only real possibility here is a stuck bullet.. Perhaps a bridged powder dump from the measure and the round that stuck only got a half grain of titegroup or so. Which means there could be a round in the rest of the loaded ammo with a near double charge.. Or best case scenario.. A round simply didnt get charged with powder and the primer just pushed the bullet an inch or so down the barrel where the next round fired normally collided with the stuck bullet and both went on to the target..

Mud can do it and does. A bulged barrel will still fire a bullet. And some do it quite accurately I had a .357 that i bulged and shot for a month before I noticed, and only noticed while I was cleaning it. Only reason it stopped the weapon in Ryans case is because it was bad enough to lock the slide. Had it not bulged enough to stop the slide from operating id wager hed still be shootig today and not know his barrel was bulged.

Yep too many variables. Hes shooting .45 ACP so pressure isnt likely a cause. Due to the low pressure and low velocity of the .45 ACP that all but rules out partial obstruction like too much oil. In my mind the only real possibility here is a stuck bullet.. Perhaps a bridged powder dump from the measure and the round that stuck only got a half grain of titegroup or so. Which means there could be a round in the rest of the loaded ammo with a near double charge.. Or best case scenario.. A round simply didnt get charged with powder and the primer just pushed the bullet an inch or so down the barrel where the next round fired normally collided with the stuck bullet and both went on to the target..

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Care to throw a number at the % of the time a bullet stuck in the barrel will be "pushed" out by the next round verses exploding barrel syndrome?

Care to throw a number at the % of the time a bullet stuck in the barrel will be "pushed" out by the next round verses exploding barrel syndrome?

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Your analysis is kind of why I think that someone stuck two bullets in the barrel and caused the barrel to bulge and got rid of it. Then Ryan gets the gun and the continued use causes the barrel to begin distorting just enough to cause the slide to jam against it. That is what comes to mind with me. Past that, I am clueless. As far as one bullet knocking the first one out I am not sure about that and have never heard of it happening.

The actual cause of a bulged barrel is often misunderstood. It is heat. When the bullet begins to move, it rapidly picks up a lot of kinetic energy. When the bullet is stopped abruptly, that energy is dumped in the form of heat. That heat softens the steel of the barrel and the normal pressure bulges or breaks the softened steel.

If the bullet is not stopped, or slows to a stop, the energy dump is not as abrupt and the heat has a chance to dissipate. That is the case with a soft material in the barrel (peanut butter?) or with something like rainwater, which does not slow the bullet significantly. But if the front bullet is at the rear, so the second bullet is touching it, the second will not be stopped, and the two bullets will exit as one, at effectively double the mass. The pressure will be higher than normal, but the the barrel will not bulge.

Also, if a bullet is stuck in the barrel and a round without a bullet is fired, the powder gas alone does not have enough kinetic energy and is not stopped abruptly enough to cause a bulge. In fact (dirty little gunsmith secret) a common way of removing barrel obstructions like broken bore snakes is to use a half charge of powder without a bullet and simply shoot them out.

Jim, I'm trying to reconcile that versus a muzzleloader with the ball not rammed tight against the powder charge, leaving a vacant space behind the ball. Supposedly, that will increase the pressure and somehow damage the bbl.

Also, if a bullet is stuck in the barrel and a round without a bullet is fired, the powder gas alone does not have enough kinetic energy and is not stopped abruptly enough to cause a bulge. In fact (dirty little gunsmith secret) a common way of removing barrel obstructions like broken bore snakes is to use a half charge of powder without a bullet and simply shoot them out.

Thank you for that answer, that's a question I've wondered. So what you're saying is; even if I cemented shut the end of a barrel with something completely immovable, even if I fired a full normal powder charge(no projectile), the barrel should not be damaged.

Hi, dcriner. I have heard that time and again, but I tried it and nothing happened except the bullet blew out. I have even challenged one fellow to prove to me that it can happen and offered to pay for the rifle if the barrel burst or bulged. He refused, but kept insisting that he read that someone said that maybe it happened to a cousin.... You get the picture.

Hi, CC holder. Well I have never tried cementing the barrel shut, but I think the answer would be that with no bullet the plug would just be blown out. Now if a bullet were fired, the precursor wave would probably blow out the plug. But if it didn't, and the bullet stopped, the muzzle would be opened up the same as when a rifle is fired with mud in the barrel. Those kinds of obstructions usually result in the barrel splitting along the fault lines (that is the rifling) and the barrel opens up in a nice flower pattern.

Of course, you made your plug immovable. What would happen is just that the pressure would build up as the powder burned. If the barrel were weak, it could burst, but with a normal barrel that gas would be contained. The pressure would be lower than normal chamber pressure since the gas would have much more room for expansion than in just the chamber.

Hi, dcriner. I have heard that time and again, but I tried it and nothing happened except the bullet blew out. I have even challenged one fellow to prove to me that it can happen and offered to pay for the rifle if the barrel burst or bulged. He refused, but kept insisting that he read that someone said that maybe it happened to a cousin.... You get the picture.

Hi, CC holder. Well I have never tried cementing the barrel shut, but I think the answer would be that with no bullet the plug would just be blown out. Now if a bullet were fired, the precursor wave would probably blow out the plug. But if it didn't, and the bullet stopped, the muzzle would be opened up the same as when a rifle is fired with mud in the barrel. Those kinds of obstructions usually result in the barrel splitting along the fault lines (that is the rifling) and the barrel opens up in a nice flower pattern.

Of course, you made your plug immovable. What would happen is just that the pressure would build up as the powder burned. If the barrel were weak, it could burst, but with a normal barrel that gas would be contained. The pressure would be lower than normal chamber pressure since the gas would have much more room for expansion than in just the chamber.

Jim

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I guess you've finally helped me boil my question down. Is the barrel capable of withstanding the same pressures as the chamber is? Is the chamber stronger in any way that the barrel?

Yep too many variables. Hes shooting .45 ACP so pressure isnt likely a cause. Due to the low pressure and low velocity of the .45 ACP that all but rules out partial obstruction like too much oil. In my mind the only real possibility here is a stuck bullet.. Perhaps a bridged powder dump from the measure and the round that stuck only got a half grain of titegroup or so. Which means there could be a round in the rest of the loaded ammo with a near double charge.. Or best case scenario.. A round simply didnt get charged with powder and the primer just pushed the bullet an inch or so down the barrel where the next round fired normally collided with the stuck bullet and both went on to the target..

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Now that you said that im going to take the rest of the bullets apart to make sure there is no double charge thanks for mentioning it.Know matter how much one thinks he knows about guns its amazing how much we dont know.

Excess Oil CAN cause barrel damage. Thats why it says in the owners manual for your firearms to not leave excessive lubricant in the bore if you are going to shoot it. Obviously thinner, less viscous oils wont pose as much of a threat as they are more likely to just get pushed out ahead of the bullet. but it can happen ere regardless.